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Wednesday, 29 July 2015

Day 3 Kolkata

Today while Anique rested I caught a taxi to see the Victoria Memorial a vast, beautifully proportioned festival of white marble. Built for a beautiful Indian princess rather than a dead colonial queen, this would surely be considered one of India’s greatest buildings. It was designed to commemorate Queen Victoria’s 1901 diamond jubilee, but construction wasn’t completed until nearly 20 years after her death.

Statues as you enter the first hallway: King George V faces his wife Mary. The soaring central chamber remains very impressive and leads through to the Calcutta Gallery, an excellent, even-handed exhibition tracing the city’s colonial-era history in art form.

Queen Victoria Statue

I then caught a taxi back to the hotel and again the language barrier proved to be a problem with the taxi driver delivering me to a part of the city I was unfamiliar with and I had to refuse to pay to ensure that I was taken to the hotel, when we finally arrived after me having to ask for help in a near by hotel the taxi driver tried to demand more money than was negotiated due to the extra kilometres and time. I was very grateful to return to the hotel and safety once more.

After lunch in the hotel with Anique we hired a taxi to go to the Indian Museum. Kolkata’s old-fashioned main museum fills a colonnaded palace ranged around a central lawn. Extensive exhibits include fabulous 1000-year-old Hindu sculptures, lumpy minerals, a dangling whale skeleton and an ancient Egyptian mummy.

The plaque stated it was Three pillars with a coping stone showing Yakshis tramping evil forces from 2nd century CE. To me the goddess ridding expressions of the ego.

This plaque stating Bust of Brahma the creator 6th century CE, to me this represents the three aspects of the goddess.

Here the plaque says Mahisasuramardini 12th century CE

This plaque states Mother fondling Child 10th Century CE I see this as the original version of the mother and child

This plaque states Head of Nefertiti from Tell-el-Amarna Dynasty XVIII

When we were leaving the museum and trying to get a taxi back to the hotel we spoke with a gentlemen who spoke very good English and Anique negotiated for him to be our guide for tomorrow to see more sights of the city.